Electric switch



All@ 5 1940- s, lwANowlcz 2,210,539

' ELECTRIG SWITCH Filed Feb. 25, 1939 Patented Aug. 6, i940 ELECTRIC SWllilil Stanley Iwanowica, Detroit, Mich.

'Application February 25, 1939, Serial No. 258,451

` l Claim.

My invention relates to electric switches, and its principal object is to provide 4a switch mechanism of the push button type, more particularly for insertion into a wall and flush therewith, which is operable by means oi a single push button which, by one movement, switches the cur- Vrent on and is returned automatically to the initial position, and then by a second movement in the same direction switches the current oand is again returned to the normal position, a construction whichl has many advantages over the present type of wall switch in which two separate buttons are employed for switching the current on and switching it on and also over the tumbler type of switch in which a single lever-like member is moved alternately upwards and downwards to produce the same results;

A further object of my said invention is to provide a vswitch in which a visibleA signal means is provided to indicate whether the switch is in the on or oli position, such an arrangement being more especially desirable in the case of switches which control the supply of current to electric irons, washing machines, toasters, and other domestic appliances, many accidents and fires having occurred in cases where current has been inadverently left on.

With these and other objects in view, I will now describe a preferred embodiment of my invention with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation ofa wall switch constructed in accordance with my invention.'

Figure 2 is a verticalsection taken in general on the center line of the switch.

` Figure is a vertical section taken on line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is al horizontal section taken upon line I-l of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary diagrammatical view illustrating a modiiication ofmy said invention, and

Figure 7 is a. front view of the push button employed in this modification.

Like characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

In the drawing I designates the front cover or wall plate of the switch which is secured in position by screws Il and has a rectangular opening I2 in which is slidably received the push button 2 of porcelain, glass, Bakelite or other nonconducting material. In the rear of the plate i is the vertically disposed frame 3 to which the spring 12, the other end of which passes over a (Ci. 20d-159) plate i is connected by the screws ll and to the rear` of this frame is the Iconventional switch boX i which is generally made from porcelain. Within the box t are the upper and lower connectors 5, lheld in position by Screws 5L 6I which also 5 serve as connecting means for the main feed wires 52, 62. Secured to the members 5, 5 as by rivets 53, 63 are the usual biiurcated contacts 5t, 5t.

Secured to or integral with the frame 3 are 10 guide members 3l of channel section in which are slidably received the guide plates 2l of the push button 2, and upon the rearward extremity of the members 3l are bearings 32 in which are rotatably mounted pivot pins .33. Upon these pins are pivoted a U-shaped yoke l to which is secured an oscillatable .contact member 8, the outer ends of which are adapted to pass between bifurcations of the contacts 54, 64 when the switch is in the on position, as shown in Figure 2. Conversely, when the ends of the member 8 are disengaged vfrom'the bifurcated portions of the contacts 54, 5d the current is cut oli.

In order to move the contact member 8 from the on to the off position and vice versa there is provided upon the yoke 'l a rocker arm 9, the

ends 9i of which are provided with V-shaped notches Si as shown in Figure 2, and upon the l push button 2 aremounted a pair of curved flat pin 13 iixed to o ne of the guide members 3|. By reference to Figure 2 it will be observed that, the contact member being in the on position, the spring 2l is in a position to engage one of the notches 9i and when the push button is pressed inwards, the said spring will cause the rocker member 9, together with the yoke 1, to move about the pivots 33 and to disengagethe ends of the member 8 from the contacts 54, 64, thus cutting off the current. The spring 12 is so arranged as to move the 'rocker 9 over the dead center in the manner well known vin the art, so that by alternate inward movements of the push button 2 the current is alternately turned on and off as will be'understood. 5

The ends of the springs 22tare so arranged that, when in their quiescent position, one of them is in alignment with a notch 9| of the rocker 9 when the switch is either in closed position, as shown in Figure 1, or in the open posiu ll tion, I have provided in the push button 2 an tion. As the rocker moves around-its pivotal point, the engaged spring is held within its notch although the distance out from the medianline increases. In the meantime,'the free spring passes within the adjacent end of the rocker and is there hel'd until the push button is retracted, allowing the spring to escape and resume its initialposition.

In order to provide a visible means to lindicate whether the switch is in the on or off posiopening 23, and rearwardly of this opening is a small electric bulb 24 which is threadedly receivedin a socket mounted upon the rear surface of the push buttonas by screws 26, the socketbeing grounded, and in order to supply current to this .bulb there is a spring contact member 21 secured to the rear face of the push button as by screws 2,8. The socket 25 'is con-i nected by a wire, as shown, to the contact screw 55, and the member 21 is connected as by the wire shown to the contact screw 65, so that when the currentv is switched on the bulb is illuminated, `and when the current is cut off the bulb is dead. The bulb is preferably of red or other easily distinguishable color, and in order to' easily replace the bulb 24 the push button 2 is split vertically into separate pieces 2A, 2B, the portion 2B being provided with notches 281 adapted to receive the spring members 29 by which the two pieces are held together.

In the modification shown in Figures 6 and 'I of the drawing, I employ, instead of the light bulb 24, a segment I0 pivoted at |0| to the push button 2 and upon the circumferential face of this segment are the words on 'and off so arranged that the on and off condition of the switch are indicated and may be observed through the opening |02 in the push button. In order to operate the segment I0 in synchronism with the yoke 1 and consequently with the contact member 8, the segment is provided with an extension |03 Whichis connected by a rod |04 to a bell crank lever |06 pivoted at |06 and connected by a link |01 to an arm |08 which forms a part of the yoke .1.

It will be understood thatl the contact member 8 is insulated from thepivot 33 as by washers 8| and co-acting bushings in the Well known manner. The return of. the push button after each inward movement is effected by the springs 20| or by any equivalent means.

It will be observed from the foregoing description and by reference to the drawing that I have provided a simple and efficient device for carrying out the objects above recited; and while I have-herein described and shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be readily understood by those skilled inthe art to which the same relates thatvarious changes in detail may be made to suit any particular 'requirements without departing from the spirit of my invention as dened in the appended claim. For example, while I have herein shown and described a push button of rectangular conguration', obviously I may employ other shapes, such as square, round,

oval, or more ornamental and artistic forms as hearts or diamonds. Furthermore, the push -button may be formed from variously colored plastic materials having mirror-like, translucent or transparent properties, and where glass or other transparent material is used the openings vdesighated 23 and |02 mayibe dispensed with.

Having thus described my said invention, what I claim and desireto secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

In an electric switch, the combination, with a movable contact bladeand a pair of fixed ele-l ments and'connections arranged in cooperative relation therewith to form a circuit,` of means for STANLEY IwANowIcz'. 

